Who is this Walter Kraushaar guy anyway?

It's difficult to attend a Hugh Featherstone concert these days, or to read anything about him without the name Walter Kraushaar or some reference to his magnificent guitars cropping up. The proof can be found on these pages.

As early as 1995, praise of Walter's work appears in the sleeve notes of Hugh's CD Negotiations and Lovesongs, with honourable mention of Berndt Schümmer's adoration of his fretless 5-string basses. Just try typing his name into your favourite internet search engine and you'll find more praise a'plenty from musicians and music bizz people all over the world.

See photos of two of the gorgeous guitars Walter built for Hugh.

Walter frequently guests as lead guitarist at Hugh Featherstone and A Panel of Experts concerts, and made a spectacular appearance on their latest album 9 on the sub-prime.

Walter plies his trade as a master guitar maker in Emperor Charlemagne's old hangout of Aachen, on the border of Germany and Belgium. He and his team design, build and repair guitars, as well as providing customers with invaluable tips on the arcane art of guitar care and maintenance. Walter is also no mean hand on the frets himself.

His website is full of delicious pictures of his hand-built instruments, info on how he designs and makes them and practical tips. At present it's only in German, but if you like guitars enough you can just look at the pics and drool a bit (no extra charge).

Walter Kraushaar, Werkstatt für Gitarrenbau
Ahornweg 2, 52080 Aachen, Germany

Tel: +49 241 - 16 75 60

website: www.kraushaar-gitarren.de